Evan Rubin
Taking that first step outside our comfort zone is a huge step, especially when it is in a whole new place. It tests your character, your determination, and your dedication to be a better person; a person that when finished with their short time on earth has somehow improved it.  My life, world outlook, and passions have drastically shifted since that first step in becoming that person.             
As a graduate student in Latin American Studies I was able to work with a variety of departments, staff, and projects that have all influenced my educational and research goals.  My work with LARC (Language Acquisition Resource Center) showed me how technology can be used in new and innovative ways; participating in the San Quintin, Mexico project under Professor Perez (Anthropology) gave me the opportunity to interact with a rural, agricultural population that had to relocate for better opportunities.  These experiences and more led me to my thesis fieldwork this summer.
            For almost two months I went to the middle school in

Santa Maria Atzompa, Oaxaca everyday.  In exchange for interviews with the teachers and administrators on the use of technology in education, I gave English classes and helped coordinate 180 students’ final computer class project.  My research depended on listening to their stories, engaging in conversation, and reserving my own views and opinions to allow them to teach me.  In the end, we all benefited from our friendship and our common goal of improving the school system through technology.




Global Commodities in a Local School:

This research takes a multidisciplinary ethnographic approach examining the use, knowledge, and perceptions of modern technology in Atzompa’s tele-secundaria; a middle school located in a rural town 8 kilometers outside of Oaxaca City that utilizes the television in a national education format. As modern technology becomes an accessible educational resource to school such as Atzompa’s tele-secundaria, new sets of global challenges and solutions are created for the students, teachers, administrators, community, and the government related to resources, teaching, training, and student preparation. Teacher narratives reveal insight into topics of universal education, community participation, educational inequality, and the global workforce.